Dark Simulation Research Articles

How does lake water clarity affect lake thermal processes?

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of water clarity changes on thermal processes in Lake Poyang, the largest freshwater lake in China, using a physically based lake model embedded in the Community Land Model. A water extinction coefficient (Kd) describing water clarity and controlling radiation penetration in the lake model was used to conduct controlled simulations. Three sets of simulations were conducted for Lake Poyang over the period from 2000 to 2015: DEFAULT with the Kd = 0.45 m−1; CTL with the Kd = 1.68 m−1 based on a water clarity of 0.85 m; and DARK with the Kd = 1.68 m−1 from 2000 to 2005 and Kd = 3.44 m−1 based on a water clarity of 0.41 m observed from 2005 to 2015. The simulation results showed that compared with the DEFAULT simulation, the temperature simulations were closer to the observations using the more accurate Kd values for the CTL and DARK simulations. Due to decreased water clarity, radiation absorbed in the top 1 m of the water body was larger for the DARK simulation and lower at greater depths than that observed for the CTL simulation. Such changes in radiation penetration in the DARK simulation generated a higher lake water surface temperature (LWST) and thus stronger lake-air interactions from February to July and lower LWST and turbulent fluxes from August to the following January than in the CTL simulation. The temperature inside the lake water body declined markedly, with a significant reduction from June to August that exceeded 5 °C. The results of this study provide an additional reference regarding lake water clarity effects on inland freshwater systems and theoretical support for lake water system management.

Simulation studies on the effect of a buffer layer on the external parameters of hydrogenated amorphous silicon p-i-n solar cells

Device modeling of p-i-n junction amorphous silicon solar cells has been carried out using the amorphous semiconductor analysis (ASA) simulation programme. The aim of the study was to explain the role of a buffer layer in between the p-and i-layers of the p-i-n solar cell on the external parameters such as dark current density and open circuit voltage. Investigations based on the simulation of dark I–V characteristics revealed that as the buffer layer thickness increases the dark current for a given voltage decreases.